Mathil's Voltaxic Crit LA/Blast Rain - Cruise control the entire game. Uber Atziri Viable 2.2 ready

Head on over to twitch.tv/mathil1 for live stream goodness and to have any questions answered that weren't covered here.

Brief:
Voltaxic has been incredibly strong ever since the buff to bow base crit chances. However, in 2.1 with the addition of Blast Rain, Duelist mana/life leech nodes and additional chaos damage through the passive tree as well as Poison gem, Voltaxic has taken another leap forward. I firmly believe this is one of the strongest builds in the game at the moment, at least for damage for the amount of currency you have to put in.

I build my character to have incredible damage and somewhat flimsy defence as I play by either killing things instantly or dodging them altogether. This build and playstyle has gotten me quite a few deathless Uber Atziri runs and I have yet to fail one since my initial kill. There is plenty of room to build more defensive however and lose some damage if you really feel the need.

For a video guide of the build which covers most of what is written here, click here.

For a video of one of my first Uber Atziri kills, click here.

For a video of my character clearing Vinktar's Square, click here.



2.2 Ascendancy Discussion
Voltaxic is a build that can go quite a number of different ways as far as Ascendancy classes go. I'm not sure I could ever give you the "right" answer because the passive tree and gear right now builds your character as a whole, the ascendancy classes just give extra perks based on what you want as a player for your playstyle and desires with this build.

THAT said, if you want my opinion on what I would play if given the chance right now I'd probably take Scion Berserker/Assassin. If you know me, you know I'm lazy. I love the idea of the Assassin but hate the idea of having to keep up 5 power charges especially on certain boss fights or maps and it would probably lead to me needing to use power charge on crit somewhere which is gross. Scion gives you a bunch more damage, 1% extra crit to your voltaxic at all times and some good passives to re-allocate at your leisure.

As for changes to voltaxic in 2.2, the only substantial one is poison gem taking a beating. I get the feeling it'll still be worth using in your blast rain setup but until tested I won't know. If it's shit then that's not a problem, simply use the new Critical Strikes support for 2 extra crit and get yourself near the crit cap. Poison wasn't even the defining aspect of the build or single target, it was just good.

Assassin/Shadow - More crit chance and crit multi.
Duelist Champion - Fortify, move speed, damage, more life from passive tree.
Ranger Raider - Mapping speed, onslaught & frenzy buffs.
Ranger Deadeye - High accuracy, +1 proj on LA, Blast rain radius, more proj damage.
Ranger Pathfinder - Flask buffs, a weak surgeons mod, poisoning while flasks up
Scion Berserker/Assasin - Damage, leech(frees points to get more damage), crit, crit multi

2.1 Passive Tree





Passive Tree Discussion:
- Passive tree may be started as Shadow, Scion or Ranger. I chose Ranger because it was easiest to level with.
- We travel to all the crit we can on the tree and should result in about 45 unbuffed crit while wearing Voltaxic which with good attack speed seems to be plenty.
- 1 static electricity jewel is used between Ranger and Scion. I've decided trying to fit in any more elsewhere is inefficient and not worth doing. A 1-90 Static Electricity gives about the same damage as a 3 damage prop jewel.
- Most of the life possible on this side of the tree is filled out. Other options if more is needed is to go up to Written in Blood while grabbing Arcing Blows too. Otherwise try to get life % in jewel sockets.
- Duelist leech needs give 2% life leech which negates the need for a life leech gem and enables Vaal Pact.
- .4% mana leech is taken as a hybrid node just above Vitality Void. I found this was enough to sustain me even on 6 links. If you feel the need grab Essence Sap or Spirit Void. Vaal Clarity is used in my setup for heavy spam situations otherwise.
- Acrobatics is a decent investment for 2 points. I simply didn't take it because I've been fine up to now without it so I've decided to save my 2 points. Up to you if you choose to get it.








Gear:

Talisman SC Character - MemesDreamsAndStreams


Dps Stats



Gear Discussion:

Weapon - Voltaxic - This is your bread and butter. Voltaxic converts all lightning damage into chaos as well as providing 300 lightning damage of its own. The bow makes you immune to reflect and makes your shocks pretty and purple.

Helm - Rat's Nest, Starkonja, Rare evasion - Rat's nest is by far the biggest dps option for this build as it gives attack speed, crit, movement speed and some good evasion. A Starkonja is a cheap option to also increase your dps a bit while maintaining some life still. A rare evasion helm will help to fill out accuracy, resists and life if you want to build a bit more defensive.

Chest - Rare evasion, Lightning Coil, Daresso's Defiance, Belly of the Beast - Your options are quite plentiful but if you try to fit in good dps on other gear slots (maligaro/rats nest) I find resists are rather struggling so a good evasion chest with life/resists is your best bet. Lightning Coil is best in slot defensively if you can somehow manage your resists by some miracle.

Boots - Rare evasion boots - High movement speed, life and triple resists is ideal. Boot slot is going to be one of your main sources of resists for the build so try to do what I did and buy some tri res boots with movement speed that have a slot free to craft life onto.

Gloves - Maligaros, Facebreakers, Rare gloves - Maligaros provide the highest utility for dps giving good crit and crit multi. Facebreakers will be competitive on the dps front but just don't have the same utility given the lack of any crit. Rare evasion gloves if used should at least have a high attack speed roll and life, mostly a more defensive option.

Belt - Rare leather belt - High WED, life and resists. Another major resist slot but also good damage. Prepare to spend up to an exalt for a decent belt if you want it all.

Rings - Rare rings - Rings are another great source of resists for the build but also important for life, WED and Int. You'll need quite a lot of Int on the build to pull of Wrath and Herald of Thunder so you'll need some good rolls on rings or amulet. A high WED roll (30+) is worth about the same as a 1-60 lightning roll so look out for that too.

Amulet - Rare Int Amulet - Try to get Int on your amulet as well. Beside that priority stats are Crit Multi, WED, Crit, Added Lightning, Life. This is a heavy dps slot.

Quiver - Rare Spike-arrow Quiver - An important slot for this build. To maximize dps from your quiver make sure to at least have 30+ Crit multi and WED. After that you may look into a bonus crit roll, attack speed, accuracy, added lightning damage. Make sure to get life here too.



Jewels:



What you're looking for in jewels:
- Projectile Damage
- Lightning Damage
- Chaos Damage
- Max life %
- Global Crit Multi
- Attack speed
- Attack speed with bows







Gems & Links:

6L ideal chest setup - Blast Rain + WED + Conc effect + Poison + Added Lightning + Void Manipulation

6L Bow setup - Lightning Arrow + GMP + Chain + WED + Added Lightning + Void Manipulation

Helm - Wrath + Mirror Arrow + Blink Arrow + Summon Ice Golem

Boots - Vaal Haste + Vaal Clarity + Increased Duration + Blood Rage

Gloves - For Mapping - Frenzy + Curse on hit + Assassin's Mark + Herald of Ice
For Atziri - Frenzy + Curse on hit + Assassin's Mark + Herald of Thunder



Bandits - Life (Oak)--- 8 Attack Speed (Kraityn) --- Frenzy Charge (Kraityn)


FAQ

"MATHIL I HAVE FAR LESS DPS THAN YOU, HOW IS YOUR DPS SO STRONG AND GIRTHY?"


"MATHIL I HAVE A WINDRIPPER, IS YOUR VOLTAXIC BUILD DOABLE WITH A WINDRIPPER?"


"BANDITS? BANDITS? BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANDITS?"

nice build =D any plans for a leveling portion?

Nice write up Mathil and thanks !

I started playing around with this build a few days ago, currently level 51.

Main problem for me is my Master can only do 5-Link's atm. I burned a bunch of fusings to try for a 6-Link but it ended in tears (I heard you say that one time and it cracked me up). So for right now I am going to settle with a 5-Link for both Voltaxic and a Coil I have.

Question is which gems to drop ?

Voltaxic - Drop the Weapon Elemental Damage
Coil - Drop the Weapon Elemental Damage

I know dropping those will hurt my DPS a great deal but it is what it is, for now anyway.
I have to grind up more fusings now for 5-Linking :(

Its all good, i have other toons I can play for that.

First time playing a ranger build for me, its kind of fun compared to my 89 Sweep Marauder and Shatter Chuck + many other Cast on Crit builds I have.

I would like to hear your thoughts on leveling also. I think you might have this on one of your videos, I will have to rewatch them.

Thanks !

Excellent guide! Currently at 61 (3 lvl to VR ^_^) and crushing everything on my way :)

@Konflict as for me when I had only 5link I dropped Void Manipulation, and on 4L drop Void Manipulation and either WED or Poison for Blast Rain (Poison start to shine with VR dmg conversion and chaos nodes in passives, so I found WED better as 4link) and WED for :)

as for lvling this new bow worked well for me :)

"

budynio wrote:

Excellent guide! Currently at 61 (3 lvl to VR ^_^) and crushing everything on my way :)

@Konflict as for me when I had only 5link I dropped Void Manipulation, and on 4L drop Void Manipulation and either WED or Poison for Blast Rain (Poison start to shine with VR dmg conversion and chaos nodes in passives, so I found WED better as 4link) and WED for LA :)

Thanks Budy

I just watched Mathil's video and saw Mathil suggest dropping VM :)

Thanks :)

Ah, you made a forum topic too! Great, it's always easier to read than listen when you need a quick check, though the videos give an interesting look into your playstyle and mindset and feels.

Glad to see a few stuff I was wondering about in the videos has been rectified in this forum guide (Herald of Ash in boots).

I've tried many, many characters and haven't gotten into late mapping with any of them across the years. Just about to finish merciless with this, and it feels BY FAR the strongest offensive build I've ever tried. I'd really prefer armor over evasion, but eh, ranger life. Squishy, and I suck at avoiding one shots, but one-two shotting packs and killing bosses in a few seconds is really fun and fast.

A question too. Despite how common it is nowadays, I'm not familiar with the Rat/Maligaro crit meta. Assuming you have a pretty good bow and chest and resists are okay, which one would you save for and buy first?

Ah, and leveling tips: Storm Cloud and Death's Harp are both really, really strong and can be used to the 60s easily. Level with LA - LMP - WED. Leave GMP and Chain for like 70s or when you have a good 5-6L Blast Rain going.

HI Mathil,

Tried already a few of your builds (mostly ripper) and I must say that I never ever got close to your DPS until this build.

Great clear speed and the most fun on any build i had in a log time (except Vaal spark).

I was just wondering if tornado shot might not be better for single target than blast rain?

You loose 1 link but on paper have a higher damage effectiveness if 2 or more projectiles hit.

Very hard to test since the lightning damage is so volatile.

Any ideas/feedback?

Nice guide Mathil, i started a VR ranger and i saw your guide, i decided to respec as a crit based char and it's really good, my 2 main skill are only on a 4L but the damage is still very impresive.

"

HI Mathil,

Tried already a few of your builds (mostly ripper) and I must say that I never ever got close to your DPS until this build.

Great clear speed and the most fun on any build i had in a log time (except Vaal spark).

I was just wondering if tornado shot might not be better for single target than blast rain?

You loose 1 link but on paper have a higher damage effectiveness if 2 or more projectiles hit.

Very hard to test since the lightning damage is so volatile.

Any ideas/feedback?

I think Blast rain is far better ant not only for dps, it allow you to kill a monster that your LA can't hit (Vaal totem or rare monster with a lot of mobs around) and the damage are insane, i'm actually playing a similar build and on a 4L it's the better mono target Attack i've ever seen.


(Excuse me for bad English)

been tearing up everything ive encountered with this build !

Current Gear ! :

the atziri fight took me like 2 mins with blast rain in a 5L and lv15 gems, its a joke how good this skill is.